


Hyrule Castle Preparatory School For The Gifted and Talented (FS+ Modern AU)

by SingingVio



Category: The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms, The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/F, F/M, Fluff, Humor, M/M, Mild Angst, Secret Relationship, This will be mostly humor/fluff, Zelda being very confused, Zelda-centric, at pretty much everything, especially Vidow
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-24
Updated: 2019-07-26
Packaged: 2020-07-12 12:57:39
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 16,240
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19946557
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SingingVio/pseuds/SingingVio
Summary: Zelda cleared her throat, placed her books back on her desk, and looked around the room again. “Uh, my name is Zelda Nohansen, I’m new here, I moved from Twila, and… That’s it, I guess.” she said, sitting back down again. Her fingers tapped on her legs as she stared at her desktop.---Zelda Nohansen is the new girl. On her first day, she makes six new friends, and her life seems to be turning up, but is it all too good to be true? Her new friends have some secrets that she has yet to find out.(NOT AS ANGSTY AS IT SEEMS IT'S MOSTLY HUMOR/FRIENDSHIP BASED I PROMISE)





	1. New Girl

**Author's Note:**

  * For [notall2gether](https://archiveofourown.org/users/notall2gether/gifts).



> Here we meet our cast of strange/funny characters: Green, who talks too much, Blue, who seems irritated at everything, Shadow, who's kind of annoying, Red, who's too innocent, Erune, who's one of very few girls at the school who isn't crushing on any guy, Vio, who somehow puts up with all of them, and Zelda, the new girl who has much to learn.

Zelda looked in the mirror one more time and smoothed down her pleated skirt. She had just moved to Hyrule City, and the school that her parents had paid for her to go to cost a lot of money: Hyrule Castle Preparatory School For The Gifted and Talented.  
Everyone just called it Hyrule Castle for short.  
The students who went there either had rich families, like Zelda’s, or were the most talented students in the country. It was very hard to get in, and even though it was a “Gifted and Talented” school, most students were just very rich. There were only fifteen to twenty students who were talented enough to get in without money.  
There was a knock on the door, and Zelda opened it to find her father waiting. “Zelda, are you ready to go?” he asked. “We need to leave.” Zelda nodded and grabbed her bag, slinging it over her shoulder.  
“Yep. Let’s go, Dad.” she said. The two headed out the door and into the car.  
Zelda looked out the window at the passing trees, houses, and other things that swept in front of the window and disappeared behind her. She turned to her dad, tapping her fingers on her legs rapidly like she did when she was nervous. “Hey, Dad, do you think the kids will be nice?” he nodded.  
“Of course, Zelda, and besides, with your golden personality, people are bound to like you.” Zelda nodded and went back to staring out the window.  
Her fingers tapped faster as they got closer to the school.  
\---  
Zelda walked into the classroom ten minutes before the bell rang. In the room were about twenty students, and all of them were talking and goofing off. Three boys were writing and doodling on the whiteboard, a group of five or so girls were in the corner giggling and looking over at two other boys, one sitting at his desk reading a rather large book, reading glasses on his nose, and another boy sitting on the boy’s desk talking to him. A boy with boxing wraps around his hands was yelling angrily at another boy, while a brunette girl and a much shorter boy was trying to calm both of them down.  
Zelda silently walked over and sat in the first unmarked desk she saw, right next to the two boys the girls were giggling about.  
Just as she set her books down on her desk, the teacher walked in. He was a tall, thin man with long white hair pulled back and flowing down to almost his waist. His suit was blue and peach colored, and very neat, no wrinkles to be seen. He picked up a ruler and slapped it on his desk, and all the students immediately hurried to their seats. The man looked at all the students, who were now all looking at him (except for the boy with the glasses) and were sitting down.  
“Thank you, class. Now, I have some announcements to make before we start the day. Mr. Raven, usually I’m fine with you reading, but please put the book away for now.” the boy with the glasses nodded and closed his book, placing it in his backpack. He took his glasses off, too, and tucked them in his purple vest. “Thank you, Mr. Raven.”  
“Now, the first announcement I’m going to make is that one of the teachers, Mrs. Gaeporea, has passed away. We now have a new one, Mr. Kaeporea Gaebora. And no, he is not related to Mrs. Gaeporea in any way.” he turned to Zelda, locking eyes with her. “The next announcement is that we have a new student today. Miss Zelda Nohansen, will you please stand up and introduce yourself?” he asked.  
Zelda nodded, standing up. As she did so, her books spilled off her desk and onto the floor. The boy who was sitting on the other one’s desk earlier laughed, and she glared at him, her cheeks red with embarrassment.  
The boy was actually quite attractive, with purple hair, tan skin, and glowing red eyes. His vest was a dark purple that looked almost black, and his tie was hanging around his neck, not tied at all. When he laughed, Zelda was ninety-percent sure that she saw fangs shining in his mouth, like a vampire.  
The other boy, who’s last name was apparently Raven (which was awesome), sighed, rolling his eyes. He stood up, walked over to the purple-haired boy, and put his hand over the boy’s mouth, shutting him up. “Really?” he muttered, walking back to his desk. The purple-haired boy pouted and wiped his mouth.  
“Sorry.” he replied. Raven (Honestly, that’s what he’s going to be called until Zelda knows his first name) nodded.  
Raven was also quite good-looking, but instead of the emo/cool-kid look the purple-haired boy had, Raven looked more like one of the hot nerds from some anime Zelda had watched, not standing out too much but still noticeably more attractive than other boys. He had on a purple vest as well, but it was lighter in color than the other boy’s, and his uniform was probably the neatest one out of all the boys in the classroom.  
Zelda cleared her throat, placed her books back on her desk, and looked around the room again. “Uh, my name is Zelda Nohansen, I’m new here, I moved from Twila, and… That’s it, I guess.” she said, sitting back down again. Her fingers tapped on her legs as she stared at her desktop.  
\---  
Lunchtime was very eventful, and Zelda found it different from her other schools. This one was a buffet, and instead of a regular lunch room, you got your food in the kitchen, then walked into a room that was full of windows and some round tables. If you kept walking, there was a large courtyard full of students sitting on the low-rising wall, benches, and on the grass eating their lunches and talking.  
On one side of the field, a group of boys were passing a soccer ball around, their half-eaten lunch sitting in the grass next to them. Under a large, beautiful cherry tree stood a large group of girls, giggling and looking at the boys playing soccer and another group in the corner. The third group, in the corner, was rather small but consisted of people Zelda recognized from her class, three boys and one girl, all talking and laughing.  
Not wanting to eat alone, Zelda walked over to the group in the corner. Two of the boys, one wearing a green vest and beanie and another wearing a blue vest and boxing wraps, were talking and laughing, standing on the tall grass. The short boy with a red vest was sitting cross-legged on the ground, playing with the grass, the girl with curly brown hair and a teal-colored vest laying next to him and looking at the sky.  
Zelda stood there awkwardly and cleared her throat, making all of them turn towards her. “Uh, hello, can I sit here?” she asked. The boy in the green vest nodded.  
“Yeah, sure! You’re the new girl, right? Zelda? I feel like I recognize you, but that’s crazy. My name’s Midori, but everyone calls me Green since that’s what it means. Even my parents. Why didn’t they just name me Green if they never use my real name? Anyway, it’s nice to meet you.” he said. The boy with a blue vest covered his mouth.  
“Green, I love you, you’re nice, but shut up.” he said. Green nodded and stopped talking. The boy turned to Zelda, who was ninety-percent sure that he had a resting bitch face. “My name’s Ao, but call me Blue,” he said. Blue jabbed a thumb over to the boy and girl sitting in the grass. “That’s Aka, or Red, and Erune. Red’s biologically male, but doesn’t care what pronouns people use when referring to him, if that makes sense.”  
Zelda nodded slowly and sat down on the low stone wall surrounding the courtyard. She opened her lunch, starting up at the school. It didn’t look at all like a school, really, more like a giant ancient castle summoned right from one of the old fairy tales that were read to Zelda when she was young.  
“Magnificent, isn’t it?” said a voice. Zelda jumped and turned, eyes wide, to the boy that had seemed to suddenly appear beside her. The same boy, in fact, that laughed at her when her books fell to the floor. Zelda’s eyes narrowed, and the boy ran a hand through his hair nervously. He then turned to another boy, who had also seemed to appear. Raven.  
“ _Ma petite violette, elle est toujours en colère contre moi…_ ” he said. Violette? Zelda wondered, confused.  
Raven glanced at him, and when Zelda really looked, she could see that his icy eyes had flecks of purple floating in them like stars. “Shadow, you did embarrass her during class.” he said. “And don’t call me that, please.” the purple-haired boy, Shadow, sighed and laid his head on Raven’s shoulder, closing his eyes. After a minute, Zelda was surprised to hear soft snoring coming from him, signifying that he fell asleep.  
“You keep saying that and it just floats in one ear and out the other with him.” Green said, not looking at Raven.  
“I know that, but it won’t stop me from trying.” he replied, eating his lunch. He looked at Zelda, seeming to realize something. “I’m sorry, I never told you my full name,” he said. “I’m Violet Raven, but please just call me Vio.” Blue grinned.  
“Only Shadow can call you Violet. And your father.” he said. Vio waved a hand at Blue, irritated. “What? It’s true.” Vio went back to his lunch, occasionally glancing at Shadow and sometimes running his hand through the boy’s hair.  
Throughout the rest of the day, both Vio and Shadow, and occasionally one of the other group members, were in Zelda’s classes. In every single one, Vio and Shadow sat next to each other, worked together, passed notes, and basically did everything together. Zelda found it cute, but was also a little curious about what exactly their relationship was.  
Especially during Science class, the last class of the day, when both showed up late. When Green whispered at them, asking where they were, Shadow blushed (which no one seemed to notice but Zelda) while Vio’s expression didn’t change as he said that he needed help getting something from his locker.  
The teacher, Mr. Robbie, said that they would be in pairs for an experiment, and that they would get to choose pairs, then everyone started grabbing their friends to pair up with them. Vio and Shadow were paired up the fastest, but Mr. Robbie told them that they had to pair with someone different today.  
The two seemed unhappy with this, especially Shadow when he paired with a girl who had bright green hair. Vio paired with Green, who seemed happy with this as the two high-fived. Zelda got paired with Blue, who seemed indifferent about this but found it extremely funny how the girl Shadow paired with (Saria, Zelda thought her name was) kept flirting with him and Shadow seemed to flirt back without realizing it. He also spent a lot of time looking at Vio.  
About halfway through the experiment, Zelda decided to ask Blue about what Vio and Shadow’s relationship. “Hey, Blue.” she asked. Blue looked up at her.  
“Yeah?” he replied.  
“What exactly is the relationship between Shadow and Vio?” Blue raised an eyebrow.  
“Why do you want to ask me?”  
“You’re my partner?” Blue shrugged.  
“Yeah, all right. Fair.” he said. “They’re just friends, and have been since Vio moved here a year and a half ago. They’re so close, that if someone glued their shoulders together I doubt anyone would notice.” Zelda frowned.  
“They seem closer than just friends to me.” Blue gave her a look. “What?” she asked. Blue stared at her some more, then laughed.  
“Look, when I say they’re just friends, that’s what they are. Nothing more. Sure, they’re close, but you would be close to the person that saved your life, too.” Zelda’s eyes widened.  
“Wait, what?” she asked, then shook her head. “You know what, never mind that. How are you so sure?”  
“First, Shadow is very bad at hiding things and if they were anything more than friends he would probably brag about it. Second, I’m Vio’s cousin and we share a room. Want to know how annoying that is? Shadow comes over all the time, so I hear them talking- and Shadow’s really loud, by the way- while I’m trying to study because unlike Vio, I don’t have a scholarship for being the world’s smartest asshole. So if Vio and Shadow had something going on between them, I would probably know.”  
Zelda blinked twice, then nodded. “Okay then.” she said.  
\---


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zelda goes over to Vio and Blue's house with them and Shadow, she meets Ruto, and Shadow reveals a bit about his past and why he and Vio are so close.

After school, Zelda got a text from her dad as she was getting her things from her locker (which, coincidentally, was close to the rest of the group’s lockers) that he couldn’t pick her up and that no one was home. Zelda brushed some of her golden hair behind her ear, a bit worried. She’d either have to stay after school until they got back, or go to a friend’s house.  
Not wanting to be alone, she chose the second option. She turned towards the group. Red and Blue were talking, and Blue was actually smiling for once about whatever Red was telling him, and Green was trading some cards with Erune. Vio was leaning against his locker, talking to Shadow, who was sitting on the floor. Zelda wondered what they were waiting for, then she realized it was her.  
She cleared her throat, and they all looked at her. “Um… My family isn’t home, and I don't have a house key… Is there a chance that I could stay at one of your houses until they get home?” she asked. Green shook his head.  
“You can’t stay at mine, my family’s not home either and I need to babysit one of my neighbor’s kids. Sorry.” Red and Erune nodded.  
“My parents never let my friends come over.” she said. Red sighed.  
“I don’t let people come to my house…” Blue shrugged.  
“I guess you can come over to our house.” he said, looking at Vio, who nodded.  
“Of course. Shadow’s also coming over, so it’s not like it’s any trouble.” he said. Zelda grinned.  
“Thanks!” she said. “Oh, and before you guys go, can I get your numbers?” Green, Red, and Erune then proceeded to give her their numbers, and Zelda entered them into her phone. “Thank you!” Green ran out the door as a car honked outside, and Zelda watched him climb into a green van with a lovely woman and two little girls already in the car.  
Red also ran right out, saying something about feeding his cats. Erune followed him, meeting an old lady outside who took her bag, the two walking behind Red. Shadow turned to Zelda.  
“So… let’s go?” he asked. Zelda nodded.  
\---  
About halfway there, Blue and Vio got into a heated argument about something, and Shadow (not wanting to get stuck in the middle of that) slowed down and started walking besides Zelda.  
I wonder what Blue meant by one of them saving the other’s life? She thought. Her curiosity getting the best of her, she tapped Shadow on the shoulder.  
“Hey, Shadow?” she asked.  
“What?”  
“You and Vio seem really close.” Shadow grinned.  
“Yeah, he’s my best friend.” he said, clearly happy about this fact.  
Zelda nodded. “Blue said something about one of you saving the other’s life once, and that’s why you’re so close… is that true?” she asked. Shadow’s expression went from happy to grim in half a second.  
“Yeah… My real name is Ombre Lorule. ‘Ombre’ means ‘Shadow’ in French, so I use that. You know Lorule corp.?” he asked. Zelda’s eyes widened as she nodded. “My dad is the owner. You may know that while the company’s real successful in magic and potions and such, lots of people hate it, think we’re evil, and some people… are worse than others.”  
Zelda’s eyes got wider and wider as he went on. She didn’t know he was the son of the famous Demise Lorule.  
Shadow brushed his hair back, which did nothing as it popped back into its regular messy style that made it look like he just rolled out of bed. “Since they’re not able to attack my father directly, they turn to his children. My siblings. It got so bad that we can’t ever be alone. But one time… I decided I could take care of myself. I didn’t need an escort. So I was walking around the city alone, and-”  
Zelda could see where this was going, and she didn’t like it. “This guy showed up and cornered me in an alley. He had a gun and was saying something about either killing me or taking me hostage, to get money or to hurt my dad. And I couldn’t do anything.” he took a shaky breath. “I thought I was going to die. Then Vio showed up. He was in the city too, and he heard this going on, and he snuck up on the man and somehow knocked him out. He’s a lot stronger than he looks, trust me.”  
Zelda stared at Shadow, then at Vio. She tried to imagine the tall, thin bookworm saving Shadow from a man who would kill him, and couldn’t. But she believed him. “He saved you.” Shadow nodded.  
“Yeah…” he stuck his hands in his pockets, staring straight ahead. After a few minutes of uncomfortable silence, Blue turned back to them.  
“We’re here.” he said. Shadow’s face lit up and he ran into a house that was of normal size, pretty average, with white walls and a black roof, roses in a small flower bed at the front. He grabbed Vio’s arm, and the two were inside so fast that Zelda felt the displaced air next to her where Shadow was. Blue looked at her.  
“Yeah. Shadow loves coming over, and there’s also a rule that the first one to the room that Vio and I share gets to tell everyone to fuck off, so they can have the room- and the video game console Vio has- all to themselves.” he flashed an evil grin at her. “The thing is, Shadow doesn’t know who’s home today instead of with her friends.”  
“Who?”  
“Ruto- she’s in our science class, paired with Erune- happens to have the world’s largest crush on Shadow, and she also doesn’t care at all about privacy. She’s also my sister.” Blue said. “Come on, I want to see if she spotted Shadow before he could escape to my room.” With that, he grabbed Zelda’s hand and pulled her inside the house.  
\---  
Zelda and Blue sat on the couch, watching the (very awkward) exchange between Ruto and Shadow. Ruto was flirting a lot with Shadow, Shadow looked uncomfortable but was hiding it well, and Vio looked indifferent. (though Blue told Zelda that if you looked closely you could tell that he was pretty irritated)  
Eventually, Blue sighed and told Ruto to stop making Shadow uncomfortable, and Shadow and Vio ran upstairs at the speed of light. Blue turned to Zelda. “So, want anything to eat?” he asked. Zelda nodded. “Cool, the kitchen’s this way.”  
Zelda followed him and Ruto to a rather large kitchen, and the two girls sat down at the breakfast bar while Blue opened the fridge, pulling out seemingly random ingredients. Ruto leaned over to Zelda. “Blue’s a really good cook, he can make anything taste good. Unlike Vio, who’s burned water before.” she said. Zelda nodded, watching Blue do something at the stove that produced a really good smell.  
“Anyway…” she said. “I know you’re new and all, but do you like anyone? Any guys you like?” Zelda shook her head, and Ruto’s eyes widened.  
“What? Zelly, you’ve made friends with the group of guys that are probably the hottest in our school. They look like they popped straight out of anime! Especially those two.” she pointed towards the stairs that led to the bedrooms. “You’re telling me that you don’t have the slightest romantic feelings for any of them?” Zelda shook her head again, and Ruto sighed.  
“Okay, then. I definitely do.” Zelda glanced at whatever Blue was making, then turned back to Ruto.  
“Let me guess. It’s Shadow.”  
“Yeah! Not only is he part of a really rich family, but he’s also, like, probably the hottest guy in school!” she said. Zelda thought for a moment. Sure, Shadow was cute, but honestly? He was so very much not her type. But at least now she knew what the girls were all giggling about. Ruto sighed. “I can’t wait for Ribbon Day, it’s only in one week!”  
Blue interrupted this (awkward, for Zelda) conversation with a plate of something that smelled really good. “Hey, food’s ready,” he said. Zelda picked up one of the square, cake-looking things and took a bite, and her eyes widened, flavor filling her mouth.  
“Blue, this is amazing!” she said. “What is it?”  
“It’s called Zora cake. We’re descended from the Zora, and eat this all the time as a snack.” he replied. “Not that filling, but enough that you’ll be good until dinner.”  
Zelda swallowed the Zora cake and pulled out her phone. “I forgot to tell my dad I’m at your house!” she sent a quick text saying where she was and who she was with and then turned off her phone, putting it back in her bag. “And, by the way, can I maybe stay for dinner? Whenever my dad’s out, it’s usually pretty late…” she said. Blue nodded.  
“Sure, I don’t mind. We’re probably just going to eat leftovers, though.” he said. “My parents are on a trip right now, but Vio’s dad, Rauru, is going to be home in… five minutes. He loves it whenever we have someone over that isn’t Shadow. Don’t get me wrong, I’m pretty sure everyone in our family but me loves that guy, but it’s nice when someone else visits.” they all jumped as Shadow ran downstairs.  
“IS THAT ZORA CAKE?” he yelled. He then ran up to them, grabbed over half the plate, stuffed another one in his mouth, and ran back upstairs. A moment later, the three heard a loud whoop from Vio. “THANKS FOR MAKING LETTING US HAVE SOME, BLUE!”  
“I DIDN'T SAY YOU COULD, ASSHATS!” Blue yelled back, earning a loud laugh from both Vio and Shadow in response. Blue turned back to Zelda and sighed. “It’s also a lot quieter…”  
\---  
A few more hours of Blue and Zelda playing video games and talking, Shadow, Vio, or Ruto interrupting occasionally, and then it was time for dinner. Blue put paper plates and such out and sent Zelda to go get Shadow and Vio from upstairs.  
Zelda opened the door and saw Vio typing something out on his computer while Shadow was behind him, his arms slung around Vio and Vio leaning against Shadow. They were both laughing. “Hey, guys.” Zelda said. Shadow pulled away from Vio immediately, which Zelda found a little odd.  
“Yeah?” he asked.  
“Time for dinner. Leftovers.” she said. Shadow and Vio nodded.  
“Just a second, I need to finish this.” Vio muttered, not looking up. After a few more seconds of typing, he stood up. “All right.” the three walked downstairs to where Blue was stuffing his mouth full of pasta and Ruto was scrolling through her phone while eating a plate of what looked like fruit salad, but with...seaweed… mixed in it. Shadow quickly filled his plate with pretty much everything that wasn’t spinach, and Vio got… almost the entire plate of leftover barbecue chicken wings. Zelda sat in between Vio and Blue and got the strange-ish fruit salad and the bowl of spinach. (since no one else was going to eat it)  
They all ate in silence for a while, until Blue finally broke the silence. “So, what were you two doing up there for…” he checked the watch that was nonexistent on his wrist. “Four entire hours?”  
Shadow, just like in Science class, flushed red while Vio shrugged. “What we usually do, Blue. Read, talk, video games, that one project that Shadow needs a lot of help on because he can’t do math to save his life.” Shadow slapped Vio’s shoulder, pouting. “What? You’re terrible at math and everyone knows it.”  
Shadow mumbled something in a different language, and Vio raised an eyebrow.  
“Really, Shadow, I don’t think that skipping math class could solve the problem.” Zelda frowned.  
“What language is he speaking?” she asked. Vio looked at her.  
“French. It’s his first language, but English is just as good for him. His dad is French.” he said. “I decided to learn as well. No one else in this group knows how to speak French, though, so that’s great.” Zelda nodded.  
“Oh, okay.” she thought for a moment. “Hey, what did he call you at lunch? Uh, petite violette. What did that mean?”  
Vio flushed and glared at Shadow. “It’s his nickname for me.” he muttered. “It means ‘little violet.’”  
Zelda blinked, then laughed. “Okay, that’s adorable.” she said. Both of them blushed harder and Blue laughed.  
“Vio has a love-hate relationship with that nickname, it’s hilarious.” he said. Shadow and Vio both turned their glares on him, and Blue raised his hands in surrender. “Please don’t kill me.” he said, still grinning.  
\---

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please leave comments/kudos!
> 
> I have a love-hate relationship with Ruto in this. She's nice, and fun to write (because I am not like her at all), but also... really annoying??? I don't really like it but I do??? If that makes sense???
> 
> Yes, Blue can cook, and he's great at it.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zelda meets Shadow's family (which is HUGE), we see a bit more of Zelda's dad, and SHADOW CAN DO MAGIC-- (which we all knew but apparently Zelda did not)

Zelda picked up her bag, slinging it over her shoulder, and turned to the others. “I should probably go now, my dad just got back.” she said.  
“Cool, I should probably go too. Where do you live?” Shadow asked. Zelda ratted off her address and Shadow nodded.  
“That’s actually the mansion next door to mine. We can walk back together, I guess.” Zelda nodded, and after a quick goodbye to Blue, Vio, and Ruto, Shadow followed Zelda out the door.  
As the two walked silently towards their houses, Zelda’s fingers were tapping on the side of her leg as she was getting increasingly uncomfortable with the silence. Shadow finally broke the silence.  
“If you want, you can take a peek inside my house, I guess. You’re going to be dropping me off anyway. Also, while I don’t really want you to meet the rest of my impossibly large family, one of my little sisters is also named Zelda, though her twin brother Sheik nicknamed her Pink and it stuck, so that’s what we call her.”  
Zelda nodded. “Sure, I would love to meet your family!” she said. Shadow ran his hand through his hair again, which Zelda was beginning to realize was a sign of nervousness and him being uncomfortable, not him trying to look better or anything.  
“Cool. Though, some of my family members are the most annoying people in the universe, so be warned.” Zelda nodded again. “Hey, we’re here.”  
Zelda’s house was large, but Shadow’s was definitely grander in size and decoration. The whole place was decked out in Ribbon Day decorations, the holiday coming up next Friday, and the gardens circling the gigantic mansion were filled with large, beautiful, colorful flowers. Shadow walked up to the door and opened it, strolling inside. Zelda slowly followed him, and was met with the site of this giant mansion’s floor and furniture covered in toys, electronics, paper, pencils, and pretty much everything else.  
Shadow was immediately stopped by a boy that looked like him, except that he was pitch-black, like night, from the tip of his messy hair to his shoes. The only color he had were his red eyes and his clothes. (a brown hoodie and white pants) The boy started berating Shadow in rapid French.  
“ _Shadow, tu es en retard, idiot! Vous deviez être de retour il y a une heure, les autres s'inquiétaient! Je t'attendais pour pouvoir ..._ " the boy trailed off when he noticed Zelda standing behind Shadow, and he switched to English. “Shadow, who is this?”  
“Dark, this is Zelda, she’s my new friend. Zelda, this is Dark, my oldest sibling.”  
“Nice to meet you, Zelda,” Dark said, holding out a hand for her to shake. “Would you like to meet the rest of the family real fast before you go?” Zelda caught Shadow mouthing ‘no’ over and over at her, and she replied just to spite him.  
“Sure, I wouldn’t mind.” cue a giant facepalm from Shadow. Dark ran upstairs, and Zelda leaned over to Shadow. “Consider this payback for you laughing at me during class today.”  
“You’ll regret meeting them all.”  
“I doubt it.”  
Zelda didn’t regret it, but Shadow was visibly annoyed with his entire family charging downstairs to meet his new friend.  
In order, this is who Zelda met:  
Dark, who had a French accent that Shadow did not. He was twenty years old.  
Zant, who was eighteen and had this obsession with dark magic that was slightly terrifying.  
Midna, also eighteen, who claimed that there was a pack of wolves outside their house and Zelda was not about to argue.  
Ghirahim, age seventeen, and the less said about him, the better.  
Hilda and Ravio, ten year old twins, who were polar opposites and also adorable.  
Sheik and Pink, who were also twins and seven years old, and Pink absolutely loved Zelda while Sheik was definitely less trusting and stayed glued to Shadow’s side, not wanting to talk to her.  
She also learned that Shadow was a very good big brother to the sets of twins.  
Eventually, Shadow practically shoved his older (and also creepy/annoying) siblings away, and convinced the younger ones (except Sheik) to go play. He sighed and picked Sheik up, and Sheik buried his head in Shadow’s neck. Shadow turned to Zelda.  
“Yeah. They’re all crazy except little Sheik, but that’s because he speaks about five words a day and also is very shy, as you can see here.” he said. “Anyway, thanks for walking me home.” Zelda turned to the door and waved at Shadow and Sheik.  
“Yeah, bye guys!” she said, walking towards her own house. To her surprise, she heard a very quiet ‘goodbye’ from Sheik.  
\---  
Zelda opened the door and as soon as she stepped inside, her dad rushed up to hug her. “Zelda, I’m very sorry that you couldn’t get home because I wasn’t here, I’ll try to give you a better notice next time.” Zelda just nodded, and pulled back. She turned around to see Shadow leaning against the wall in his yard, smirking at her. He found this funny. She stuck her tongue out at him, and he laughed, turning away.  
Zelda turned back to her father, who was standing there confused. “Who were you gesturing at?” he asked. She looked back at where Shadow was, and was shocked to see that he wasn’t there. There was no way that he could have gone back inside in that amount of time! She scanned the gardens and saw a shadow that belonged to no one, leaning against the wall and staring up at the sky. You had to really look to see it.  
Could Shadow do magic?  
“Uh, just a friend. He’s our neighbor, but I guess he went inside already.” her father raised his eyebrows.  
“He?” he asked. Zelda pushed him gently.  
“What? No! I don’t like him like that, and besides, he’s very much not my type, and also the most annoying person on the planet.” she turned away and walked upstairs.  
When she got there, she closed the door and looked out the window. It was very large, covering almost her entire wall, and it looked right into the gardens behind Zelda’s house. She looked up and saw the stars in the night sky and smiled.  
She couldn’t wait for the new day with her new friends.  
\---

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Translations:  
> Shadow, tu es en retard, idiot! Vous deviez être de retour il y a une heure, les autres s'inquiétaient! Je t'attendais pour pouvoir... -- Shadow, you're late, idiot! You had to be back an hour ago, the others were worried! I was waiting for you to be able to ... (Dark)
> 
> I just... Love Dark. He's great. You can't convince me otherwise.
> 
> Yes, magic still exists in Hyrule. And Dark is completely pitch black. Like the night sky. Sure, he can LOOK normal, but he doesn't want to because being black as night is 'cool.'
> 
> Please leave comments/kudos!


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zelda finds out something about Red, and Shadow is avoiding Vio for some reason.

\--The day before Ribbon Day (almost one week later)--

While Zelda was getting her things out of her locker, she was almost knocked over by someone hugging her from behind. “WHA-” she turned around to see the person, and was met by Red smiling up at her. “Oh, it’s you.”

“Hi, Zelda!” he said, pulling away. “I just wanted to say hi! Sorry for startling you.”

“It’s fine Red, I wasn’t that startled.” she replied, waving a hand. Red laughed.

“Nah, you were momentarily terrified. I could see it.” he leaned in. “Ya know what else I can see?” Zelda raised an eyebrow.

“Uh… no. What?”

He grinned at her, as close to an evil smirk his childish face could make. “Your feelings about Ribbon Day. You’re not as excited as everyone else is. Bad experience, maybe?” Zelda stepped back, alarmed. She hadn’t even mentioned her feelings about it! How did he know?

“How did you know that? Are you a Telepath or some other kind of mind reader?” Red shook his head.

“No, silly, Telepaths are from stories, and stories only. I’m an Empath!” he laughed when Zelda’s expression became even more confused. “Okay, I’ll tell you more the next time we get to talk together, the bell’s gonna ring soon!” with that, Red walked off to the classroom, humming a tune to himself. Zelda followed and sat down at her desk.

When she got there, she leaned over to Vio. “Hey, Vio, what’s an Empath?” she asked. He gave a small smile at her and closed his book.

“Ah, so Red told you that’s what he was. I’m ninety percent sure he’ll tell you himself, but the basic principle is he can see your heart, the color means something, and he can read your emotions. Like how only Shadow’s family has the power of dark magic, only Red’s family has Empathic abilities. I think you should get used to strange magic, both Red and Shadow use their magic all the time.” with that, he went back to his book and Zelda put her head in her hand, looking around the room mindlessly.

She might as well wait for lunch or something. She noticed Red talking to Shadow, who was sulking in the corner fiddling with his tie. (which was untied, did he ever tie it?) Could he read everyone’s emotions just by looking at them? That must be so weird.

Zelda jumped as two hands slammed on her desk, and she looked up to see Green, grinning at her. It seems that everyone but Shadow was in a good mood today, which made sense. It was Friday.

“Hey, Zelda! Just wanted to let you know that my brother Link’s hosting a Ribbon Day party at our house, he said that even though it was mostly for kids his age, I could invite my friends as well, so I’m inviting you guys! I already told the others… Well, except for Shadow, but he hissed at me this morning so I think he’s in a bad mood, I’ll tell him next period. Anyway, do you want to come? Everyone else said yes, Link’s really good at hosting parties!”

Zelda blinked. “Yeah, sure… Wait, Shadow hissed at you?” Green nodded.

“Yeah, when he’s like this he lets no one approach him except Vio and maybe Red, but today he’s avoiding Vio for some reason so that’s why Red’s talking to him right now. Oh, the teacher’s here, talk to you later!” With that, Green sat down at his desk across the room. Zelda looked back at Red and Shadow, and saw that Red was, quite literally, pulling Shadow’s leg to get him away from the wall, where Shadow was trying to turn into an actual shadow. (probably to escape the conversation)

Huh.

Weird.

\---

Lunchtime. The first day was eventful, the second day was too.

Lunch was always eventful now.

They were all sitting in the usual corner of the courtyard eating their lunch, and for the first time Zelda had heard of and seen, Vio and Shadow were not talking. Shadow, instead, was talking to Green in a whisper, probably accidentally switching into French a lot because Green had his phone out and was opened up to Google Translate. Vio was reading a book next to Erune, who was reading over his shoulder. Blue was throwing a soccer ball in the air and catching it, glaring at the sky. (which was normal for him)

Zelda jumped (she was very unaware today and got startled by pretty much… everything) as Red suddenly slammed a book down next to her and sat down, opening it up. “Uh, Red, what’s that?” she asked. Red smiled.

“It’s a book on magic, there’s a section on Empaths there, and Shades, which is what Shadow’s family is. Also the Light Force and Triforce and Goddesses and Sages and other stuff! It’s my own book, but I want you to have it so you can know about the different types of magic. I’m pretty sure you’d like having that knowledge!” he said. “I also have the entire thing memorized, so it’s no trouble.”

Zelda opened the book, and her eyes widened. The book was covered in ink, mostly red, but also purple and black. “Who wrote in this book?” she asked, flipping through it.

“Oh, yeah. Vio and Shadow and I read it a lot and wrote our own notes in it. Not everything’s in here, so we wrote them down.” he replied. “Also, some things were a bit hard to understand so we simplified them. The colors of the heart aren’t that complicated!”

As she read through what the book said, along with the little notes along the side that Vio, Red, and Shadow made, (though mostly Red’s because Shadow and Vio had messy handwriting) Zelda found out a lot.

An Empath was someone who could see someone’s heart and emotions, along with experiences that leave such a large emotional impact that they stay there forever. There was also a guide to heart types, Pure and Dark, and also what different colors mean in terms of emotion.

Zelda skipped right through the color of emotions and read about the Pure and Dark hearts. Pure hearts are those with good intentions, and Dark hearts are the ones involved in evil, black, or some type of bad thing/magic. So literally every single Shade that ever existed ever. Gray hearts are the ones that are a mix of both, and are very common. She turned to Red.

“Wait, can you tell me what everyone’s hearts are here? Or what they’re feeling? Sorry, I’m just curious.” Red smiled.

“Sure, but nothing specific. Just what their general mood is right now.” he pointed at each member of the group in turn. 

“Blue’s determined. Green’s carefree, he’s got nothing to do. Erune’s a bit stressed. Vio’s… apparently lying about his emotions, I can’t get a good read on it, but that happens a lot, he’s Vio for crying out loud… You’re curious, obviously. Shadow’s full of stress. That grey color is seriously radiating off him like a cloud, I could probably sense it from a mile away.”

“What are their hearts?” Red shrugged.

“Blue, Green, and Erune are Pure, so are you, Shadow is always Dark but that’s just because of his magic, and Vio… He has the thype of heart called a "Rainbow" heart. He's unpredictable.”

Zelda nodded and looked over at where Vio was reading, seemingly calm and collected as always. If his heart was Dark, or “evil” as the book said, he was doing a really good   
job of hiding it. If it was Pure... great. She was pulled out of her thoughts by the bell ringing, and they all got up, walking back inside. Red started walking in the other direction (he had a different class than the others), but Zelda stopped him.

“Wait, can you tell me… What your heart is?” Red blinked, and smiled again.

“Oh, yeah. I don’t have one.” with that, he turned and walked away. Zelda stared after him, completely confused.

\---

“Ow! Jeez, what was that for?” Shadow rubbed the side of his head where Zelda had hit him with her book. “What did I do?” Zelda rolled her eyes.

“Come on Shadow, stop staring at Vio and please actually help me here, we’re studying after school for a reason. We’re both the worst at Science and the test’s tomorrow. Also, I need to ask you some things.”

Shadow sighed. “ _Vous auriez pu demander gentiment, vous savez._ ” he muttered.

“Sorry, what was that?”

“I said you could have at least asked nicely!” he laid his head on the table. “So what did you want me to answer?” he asked.

Or, at least that’s what Zelda thought he asked. His words were muffled by his face being pressed into the table.

“Okay, first, do you know what Red meant by him not having a heart? A heart’s a personality, and he seems to have a personality to me.”

“Oh, yeah. See, Empaths don’t have any personality. Unlike developing their own as they get older, like we do, they instead ‘take and copy’ traits that they want to have from other people. They’re kind of like parrots, copying the hearts of other people to try and be their own person. Red has Blue’s determination, Green’s happiness, my inability to hide my emotions, Vio’s need to protect those close to him, and Erune’s innocence. Not just having them in common with us, either. He quite literally HAS our personality traits. He copies us exactly.”

Zelda stared at him. “Wait, so nothing about his personality is him? It’s just a copy of you guys? But he seems pretty original to me.”

“Yeah, because he’s got a real good blend of personality traits from us. They’re blended together so well his personality passes as his own, when in reality, it’s not. There’s a reason Empaths are called Copycats by people who… hate magic.” Shadow looked at Zelda’s baffled expression and laughed. “You look ridiculous when you’re confused.”

“I’m not confused, just surprised.”

“Yeah, all right. Anway, when he started copying our personality traits it was really weird. For one, he always wants to be around us so he would get it exactly right. Also, it was just a little strange to have someone literally parroting us until they got comfortable enough with the new trait. He’s already become pretty attached to you too, so expect that to happen soon.” he looked at the ceiling, leaning back in the chair so that the front legs lifted up.

“You’re gonna fall out of your chair.”

“Nah, part of the coolness of being a Shade is that I can fly.” at that moment, the chair tipped back to far and Shadow almost fell to the ground, then he floated up to the ceiling, smirking. “See?” he then floated back down and sat on the table. “I never fall.”

“Yes, you do, remember that time you jumped off the roof of my house and only slowed down a little bit because Blue scared you?” Vio called. Shadow’s face reddened.

“THAT NEVER HAPPENED AND WE DON’T SPEAK OF IT!”

“Yeah, sure. I’ve still got the video on my laptop.”

“I will personally come over to your house to delete the footage and/or break your laptop.”

“You can try but you will fail.”

Shadow stuck out his tongue at Vio and turned back to Zelda. “What was the second question?” he asked.

Zelda leaned in closer to him. “Why are you distancing yourself from Vio right now? It’s weird, nothing happened between you two, did it? You were fine yesterday.” she whispered.

Shadow’s face went from mischievous and playful to complete shutdown so fast Zelda had to take a second to comprehend the speed that it did. “What do you mean?” he asked. Zelda sighed.

“You’re a terrible liar. Probably everyone could tell that you’re avoiding Vio for some reason.” she said.

Shadow glared at the floor. Zelda gave him a look. Shadow started tapping the pencil on the desk. Zelda kept looking at him. Finally, Shadow threw his hands in the air in defeat.

“Fine, I’ll tell you, but not here, since Vio’s here too.”

“Honestly, if you can tell me why you’re mad at Vio, he can know too.”

“I’m not mad at him!” Shadow got this panicked look in his eyes. “I’m really not. Nothing against him at all. I just don’t want to be near him for a while.”

“But why?”

Shadow stood up, walking out of the library. “Come on.” Zelda followed him, happy (?) that he would actually tell her why he was avoiding his best friend.

Shadow was sitting in front of his locker, tracing something on the floor with his finger. Zelda sat down next to him. “So? What is it?”

“You really want to know? Because even though half of me says you’ll be fine with it, the other half says you will not.”

“Um, I think I’ll be fine with it, whatever it is.”

Shadow sighed, stared at the floor, and finally, without looking up, told Zelda the reason, which led Zelda to where she was later: in her room trying to calm down a very upset Shadow sitting next to her while also ignoring a lot of texts from Dark (who Shadow had given Zelda’s number to) asking why Shadow wasn’t home yet at ten o’clock at night.

\---

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please leave comments/kudos!
> 
> translations:
> 
> Vous auriez pu demander gentiment, vous savez. - You could have asked nicely, you know. (Shadow)


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ...And here we have a very upset Shadow, a worried Dark, and a Zelda who is confused and trying to fix everything.  
> And also a sleepover. And Shadow singing.

The reason was this: Shadow was avoiding Vio because he was in love. With Vio. And Ribbon Day was tomorrow. And he didn’t know how to tell his best friend, who might be very straight, that he was in love with him. He very much did not want to be rejected and possibly ruin their friendship, but he didn’t want to keep it in either.

After he had told Zelda, Shadow quite literally broke down. He turned into a shadow, Zelda’s shadow, and said he wanted to hang out in her shadow for a while to calm down. Sadly, one thing that all Shades have is that their negative emotions are often multiplied a hundred times more than a normal person. They feel happy, positive emotions plenty, but when they’re upset… they are really upset.

So Zelda went home, did her homework, ate dinner, and mindlessly scrolled through her computer, until finally Shadow reappeared. And he was crying. A lot. And Zelda and Shadow sat down on her bed and Shadow continued crying when Zelda’s phone started lighting up at around eight o’clock with texts from Dark.

**8:01 PM  
Hey, Zelda? It’s Dark. I tried messaging Shadow but he won’t pick up. Is he okay?**

**8:15 PM  
Zelda, Shadow was supposed to be here by 8 and he’s not. I know you’re our neighbor, is he there with you maybe?**

**8:32 PM  
Shadow’s still not here and since there have been no calls about something happening to him, I will assume that he’s with you. He’s not with any of the others.**

**8:40 PM  
I’m starting to get really worried. I can sense him in your house, since he used his magic there. I know he’s there, but I’m still worried. If you know what I mean.**

**8:55 PM  
Shadow’s still not picking up and when he’s getting back he’s in big trouble.**

**8:56 PM  
Shadow, if you’re reading this, you are grounded until you die.**

**9:15 PM  
Okay our dad just got home and he’s freaking out but I sense he’s still with you so I’m trying to calm him down and Shadow is definitely grounded for life**

**9:29 PM  
I really hope he’s okay**

**9:35 PM  
I can see you’re reading these messages and so if you don’t give me some sort of update soon I will assume you’re both dead or something.**

**9:36 PM  
Okay that was more sarcastic I really hope neither of you are dead. Or kidnapped. Or anything. You’d both just better be okay.**

Zelda finally sent a text out to him.

**9:38 PM  
We’re both fine, Dark. Shadow’s here with me, he doesn’t really want to do anything. Or move. He’s really upset.**

That didn’t stop Dark’s messages, though, which changed from worrying where Shadow was to if he was emotionally and physically okay. Then there was one from Girahim, which was a little funny to read.

**9:45 PM  
Hi this is ghirahim im texting you from darks phone because I lost mine this is for shadow**

**9:46 PM  
Shadow you little shit when you get back im pretty sure we'll all take turns murdering you for worrying us. Except maybe the double twins but everyone else here will be ready to kill you.**

After that, Zelda just muted her phone. She turned to Shadow, who was still crying. He was so upset that at some point his appearance changed to his true form, which unlike Dark’s, was everything a pure white color and his eyes a pitch black, no color in them at all. Even the usual whites of his eyes were black.

His tears were red, which made it look like he was crying blood, but the book said that’s just the color of a Shade’s tears. It did look really disturbing seeing Shadow without the color he usually had. He also looked disturbingly similar to someone Zelda had met in Twila a few years ago.

Shadow had been crying for almost two hours straight. Wow, having an entire family of Shades, who all had this side effect, must be really draining when more than two of them were upset. But, of course, Shadow was overly dramatic in emotions anyway, which might have heightened this side effect.

“Shadow?”

Shadow looked at her, still crying. “Yeah?”

“Do you have any hobbies? Anything you enjoy?”

“Y-yes, but it’s stupid.”

“What is it?”

Shadow stared at the ground. “W-well, I l-like to sing a l-lot, but I d-don’t. I don’t think I’m very good, when I sing then to me it sounds really stupid.”

“But you do enjoy it?”

A nod from Shadow, who’s entire body gave off a ‘I’m not talking now’ vibe.

“Have you ever sung in front of anyone?”

Shadow shook his head.

“Can you maybe sing for me?”

Shadow stared at her. “W-why?”

“I want to hear what your singing voice sounds like, I’m curious.”

Also, it might help him calm down to do something he enjoyed.

Shadow sighed. “Fine, but I’m sure it sounds stupid.” he muttered.

Zelda leaned forward as Shadow wiped his eyes, opened his mouth, and started to sing. 

_Ever on and on I continue circling with nothing but my hate_  
And the carousel of agony  
Till slowly I forget and my heart starts vanishing  
And suddenly I see that I can't break free   
I'm slipping through the cracks of a dark eternity  
With nothing but my pain and the paralyzing agony  
To tell me who I am, who I was,  
Uncertainty enveloping my mind till I can't break free 

The way he sang the song was very slow, slower than the original, and full of emotion. Pain, hurt, sadness, but also hope. Zelda was completely trapped by the sound of Shadow singing. His voice was not merely good, it was from another world. The voice of an angel.

_Maybe It's a dream, maybe nothing else is real_  
But it wouldn't mean a thing if I told you how I feel  
So I'm tired of all the pain, all the misery inside  
And I wish I could live feeling nothing but the night  
You could tell me what to say, you could tell me where to go  
But I doubt that I would care and my heart would never know  
If I make another move, there'll be no more turning back  
Because everything would change and it all would fade to black 

Shadow slowly got more and more confident, his soft and shaky voice growing louder and filling the room with the voice of an angel.

_Will tomorrow ever come?_  
Will I make it through the night?  
Will there ever be a place for the broken in the light?  
Am I hurting? Am I sad?  
Should I stay or should I go?  
I've forgotten how to tell, did I ever even know?  
Can I take another step?  
I've done everything I can  
All the people that I see, they will never understand  
If I find a way to change,   
if I step into the light  
Then I'll never be the same and it all will fade to white 

The original song continued, but Shadow stopped there, staring down at the floor. The two sat there in silence for a few minutes until they both spoke at once.

“It’s stupid, I know-”

“What the FUCK, Shadow!”

Shadow stopped. “I’m sorry, what?” Zelda realized his voice wasn’t shaking anymore, and he was only crying a little bit. His eyes were normal red, and his hair was a darker grey color, but he still looked slightly… creepy.

“I said. What. The. FUCK. Was. That.” she repeated.

“I sounded bad, didn’t I?” Shadow mumbled.

“NO!” he looked at her in shock. “That was literally the most beautiful thing I think I’ve ever heard, my GOD, Shadow! Have you seriously never sung in front of anyone before?”

“Well… no, only to myself… I was sure I sounded terrible.”

Zelda picked up one of her pillows and hit him with it. “It did not, that was amazing! You should enter into the school talent show, or audition for a musical, or join a choir, or SOMETHING! Pretty much everyone I’ve met sings at some point in front of me, and you far outshine all of them!”

Shadow blinked. “Uh… okay… now I want to hear what I sound like, but you probably didn’t record it.”

“Actually, I kind of did.”

“You weren’t holding your phone.” Shadow noted, confused. Zelda stood up and walked over to her computer, typing something on it. “What are you doing?”

“Pulling up my security footage.”

“Your.. what now?”

“I’ve got cameras set up in my room in case someone breaks in.”

“Of course you do.” Shadow walked over and looked over her shoulder at the cameras, which she fast-forwarded to right before Shadow sang, then paused it. She grabbed a pair of bright pink and gold headphones, putting them on Shadow’s head and plugging them into her computer. She then hit play, and Shadow listened to himself sing for about thirty seconds before pausing it.

“...Okay then, I’ll admit that was a billion times better than it sounds in my head.”

Zelda grinned. “See? Wait, what does it sound like in your head?”

Shadow thought for a moment. “Think a dying walrus trying to sing, but in the range of one of those high-pitched fairy voices from those Tinkerbell movies that I was forced to watch with the double twins on Thursdays.”

“Ouch.”

“Yeah.” Shadow glanced at the time on Zelda’s computer and yelped.

“HOW ON EARTH IS IT ELEVEN PM?” he yelled. Zelda looked at him.

“Yeah… that was one of the reasons I suggested you sing. It would maybe distract you and stop you crying, which you’ve been doing since you came out of my… well, shadow. So, you’ve been really upset for a really long time. Also, I’m pretty sure your family is ready to murder you and hide the evidence when you get home.”

Shadow nodded, eyes wide. “Yeah, that sounds like my family.” he sat back down on Zelda’s bed and fell backward, staring at the ceiling. “I am very much not ready to deal with that right now…” he covered his face with his hands.

Zelda sat next to him. “You could just sleep here tonight, to avoid your family and also because… it’s ten thirty.” Shadow nodded.

“Yeah, but I don’t really have anything but my backpack and my uniform and I am not sleeping in my uniform. Also where am I sleeping if I stay here?”

Zelda put a finger next to her mouth. “My dad and I have this, like, collection of oversized shirts and stuff for when we want to do this project that’s messy, you could wear one of those. And you could either sleep on a mattress or something in my room or on the couch, or in one of the guest rooms. Is that okay?”

Shadow nodded. “Uh, yeah. Thanks.” Zelda pulled out her phone.

“I’m just going to tell Dark, he’s been texting me literally all night.”

**11:05 PM  
Hey Dark, Shadow’s going to sleep here tonight since he does not want to really deal with anything anymore tonight. Just wanted to let you know. He’s perfectly fine.**

She got a reply almost immediately.

**11:06 PM  
All right, I’m going to call you because I just found Shadow’s phone at our house which means he doesn’t have it and I want to talk to him.**

Zelda’s phone started ringing and she gave it to Shadow. “Dark’s really mad at you.” she said. Shadow sighed and picked up the phone.

“Hey, Dark… Yeah, I’m staying at Zelda’s… Fine, sure… Please stop shouting you’re gonna wake up the double twins… yep… bye.” he then hung up on Dark and gave Zelda back her phone. “He sounds real mad and was basically cussing me out in French almost the entire time. Girahim yelled something at some point.” he said.

Zelda nodded. “So, guest room, my room, or the couch.”

Shadow thought for a moment. “Can I sleep in here? I don’t want to be alone tonight.”

“Sure.” Zelda led him downstairs to where her dad was still working on his laptop. “Hey, Dad, Shadow’s going to sleep here tonight, just so you know. You already know about the whole situation today.” her dad nodded and stood up, holding a hand out for Shadow to shake.

“Ah, yes. I’ve been wanting to meet Zelda’s friends, and especially you since you’re our neighbor.” he said. “Dorpheus Nohansen”

Shadow shook his hand. “Shadow Lorule.”

Zelda’s dad pulled away his hand after a second and gave Zelda a “Holy shit why didn’t you tell me one of your friends was part of the Lorule family” look. He then sat back down and went back to his work, and Zelda led Shadow to the closet where they kept their ‘work clothes’

“Here you go, I’m sure some of this will work. I’ll get a mattress ready in my room. Bathroom down the hall.” she said, running back upstairs to her room.

After she finished setting up the mattress, Shadow walked back into the room wearing a Beatles T-shirt and shorts. “Thanks, Zelda.” he said, putting his folded uniform next to his backpack. Zelda nodded.

“No problem.”

\---

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please leave comments/kudos!
> 
> That song Shadow sung is actually really good. It's the english version of "Bad Apple!!"
> 
> I love the "Shadow has a great voice" headcanon.
> 
> I love it.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> RIBBON DAY HAPPENS!!!!!

When Zelda woke up the next morning, she was momentarily very confused on why Shadow was sleeping on a mattress on her floor, then remembered how he had to stay the night because of how upset he was. She noticed that he was back to his usual color, with purple hair, red eyes, and tan skin, and smiled.

She walked over to where Shadow was still asleep and shook his shoulder with her foot. “Hey, Shadow. Wake up.” she said. Shadow opened his eyes and sat up.

“Hey, Zelda.” he said. “I know I said this a lot yesterday, but thanks.”

“You’re welcome.”

“Also thanks for not waking me up with a pillow to the face or by jumping on my like how I usually wake up at my house. The double twins always jump on me if Dark’s pillow didn’t do the trick.” Zelda laughed.

“I’ll throw pillows at you next time.” she said. “Oh, and school starts two hours later than usual today because it’s Ribbon Day, so that means we’ve got a while before we actually need to go to school.” Shadow’s eyes widened.

“Oh, Ribbon Day. I forgot…” he said. “Shitshitshitshitshit--” Zelda tapped his shoulder.

“Shadow, what if you got him a red ribbon?” she asked. Shadow looked at her.

“Say what now?” he asked, confused.

“Get Vio a red ribbon. That way you don’t really need to say anything, and it’s not like it’ll be noticed by everyone, because everyone’s going to have ribbons today.” Shadow stared at her, then at the ground.

“Yeah, but… that’s really straightforward, I don’t know. I could just get him a pink ribbon instead, that would still work--”

“Shadow, how many pink ribbons does Vio get every year?”

“We all get a lot…”

“Exactly! Giving him a pink ribbon will do nothing, because he gets a lot every year!”

“I guess you’re right…”

“Just get him a red ribbon, and if you’re afraid of people judging, you can give it to him where there aren’t any people around! And, if you want, I can be there for, like, support or something.” Shadow sighed.

“Yeah, all right… There’s a few hours during the school day where everyone’s in the courtyard so people can get all their ribbons at once. The pink ribbons, though, you go to their classroom and drop it in this little basket on their desk. I’ll give it to him then.”

Zelda clapped her hands together. “Perfect!” she stopped, realizing something. “Oh, yeah. Are you going to the part Green’s brother is hosting? The rest of the group will be there, too.” Shadow nodded.

“Yeah, I said yes.”

“Great!”

\---

About an hour before school started, Shadow and Zelda went to the store, where they saw Blue and Vio as well. Shadow asked Zelda to buy the ribbon for him, since Vio was there too, and Zelda agreed. She bought yellow ribbons for all of the group, a blue one for her dad, and the red ribbon for Shadow. Shadow also bought yellow ribbons and also almost the entire stock of blue ribbons for his family.

\---

The first half of the school day went by normally, and Shadow was not exactly avoiding Vio, but he wasn’t going out of his way to be near him like he usually did, either. Lunch consisted of the group estimating how many pink ribbons they would get.

Green and Blue said at least fifteen, as that was how many they each got last year, and Red said maybe ten. Erune said five, and Green whispered to Zelda that she got seven last year. Shadow just shrugged, which confused the others (since last year they said that Shadow had boasted that he got a lot), Zelda was modest and said maybe three, and Vio didn’t say anything.

Until Red wouldn’t stop poking him, in which he said that last year he got a few more than Blue and Green. So fifteen.

Since the Ribbon Day school event was right after lunch, Zelda pulled Shadow aside. “Do you want me to be there, or are you okay with it being just you and Vio?” she asked.

“You can stay in the courtyard.” Shadow replied, shrugging. He seemed a lot calmer than this morning and last night, and Zelda told him so.

“I’m a good actor, remember? I’m absolutely terrified.” he said, then walked off back towards where the group was waiting for them so they could get going.

The second half was… very fun. The entire school was in the courtyard, passing out ribbons. Green and Blue seemed to be… protecting Red? Yeah, that was the right word. It seemed that the three had grown really popular with the girls, and were getting a lot of ribbons of almost every color. Red had grown the most popular, though.

There was a line for all three of them.

Shadow had given out his yellow and blue ribbons, and he held the hands of Sheik and Ravio, Pink and Hilda near him along with a small lavender-haired boy who looked to be Hilda and Ravio’s age, and glaring at the people who (for some reason) tried to flirt with Hilda who were definitely older. It was weird.

**(A word about why Shadow’s family was there: Hyrule Castle was for ages five to eighteen. After you completed that, you go to Skyloft Academy, if you want an important job like being in the Hyrule Court or being a captain or something. Shadow’s whole family (except Dark, who worked at a hardware store since he was twenty) went to Hyrule Castle as well.)**

Vio got a lot of ribbons as well, mostly yellow (though one blue one from, well… Blue), and at some point a girl who looked to be a few years older than him walked up with a yellow ribbon, and Vio took it, and then told the girl, “Thank you, but for the last time, Ghanti, please stop telling me you got me a pink ribbon.”

Zelda asked Vio who Ghanti was, and he said she’s had a crush on him since he befriended Shadow. She was Shadow’s sixteen-almost-seventeen year old cousin.

Erune had, at some point, ran up to Zelda and said something about not liking the chaos and escaping to the library, then ran off with lots of ribbons tied around her wrists.

Zelda herself got lots of yellow ribbons and one green one from Shadow as a joke. (since her dad and Shadow got along, he said it counted as a successful business partnership) At some point she started just hanging around Shadow and the double twins, and the boy who Shadow said was his adoptive cousin, ten-year-old Vaati.

One boy who looked to be Zelda’s age walked up to her and started… flirting? He looked a lot like Vaati, and about thirty seconds after he started talking to her, Shadow cut him off, saying, “Gufuu, you can go bother someone else now.” The boy glared at him and walked off.

That boy was also Shadow’s cousin and apparently a lot meaner than Vaati, who was his younger brother.

\---

Shadow leaned over to Zelda “Hey, can you watch the double twins and Vaati for me? Last time I left them alone together it was a nightmare. Not for me, but for everyone else.” Zelda nodded, knowing exactly what he was going to do.

“Good luck. Just don’t go in the library, Erune’s in there hiding from people.”

Shadow laughed. “Sounds like her. See you later, Zelda.” With that, he disappeared into the crowd. As soon as he was gone, Sheik made grabby hands at Zelda. He wanted to be picked up, so she did so. Sheik scanned the crowd and then pointed to the doors to the school.

“Hey, Zelda, why’s Shadow there with Vio?” he whispered. “And not over here?”

Zelda laughed. “I think you’ll find out later.”

“But I wanna know now!”

“We can’t always get what we want, Sheik.”

Zelda looked at where a little girl was shuffling back and forth on her feet, looking at Ravio and twirling a red ribbon in her hand. Ravio noticed her and walked up, and after they talked for a minute then Ravio ran back to Zelda, a red ribbon clutched in his hand.

“Zelda, Zelda, look! I got a red ribbon!” he said. Hilda laughed.

“I got two last year!” she boasted. Ravio glared at her.

“You didn’t even like the other guy, you just wanted to play around with people’s feelings! At least I like Emma!” he argued. The two quickly got into a fight, with Pink and Sheik giggling silently.

After what seemed like forever, but what was probably only ten minutes, Shadow returned, the red ribbon he had been holding earlier noticeably absent and a bit grin on his face. “It worked!” he whispered happily, then pulled a red ribbon out of his pocket. “Vio had one for me too, can you believe it?” He then, unlike the other people who wore theirs proudly, wrapped his and put it back in his pocket.

“Congrats, Shadow!” Zelda cheered quietly.

“I am now officially dating Violet Raven.” Shadow leaned in a bit more. “Just don’t tell anyone, we’re gonna reveal it at the party that Link’s hosting.”

Zelda made a motion with her hand across her mouth. “My lips are sealed.” Sheik, who was now on the ground, looked up at them.

“What are you guys talking about?” he asked. Shadow looked away and Zelda grinned.

“You promise not to tell anyone?” she said. Sheik nodded. “All right.”

Shadow sighed. Sheik was really good at keeping secrets, but this would still be embarrassing. “Fine, tell him.” he muttered.

Zelda crouched down so she was as tall as Sheik. “Shadow’s got himself a little boyfriend.”

Sheik’s eyes widened and he nodded, his eyes sparkling. “When Girahim finds out, he’s gonna be so jealous that Shadow’s dating someone before he is!”

“That’s where you’re wrong, little one!” said a voice. Zelda jumped and looked to where Girahim, in his pale, glittery glory, stood with a girl who had blue hair and purple eyes, red ribbons on both their wrists. “For I have just gotten myself a girlfriend!”

He leaned in so that his face was next to Shadow’s. “Now, what was this I heard about you getting a girlfriend or something?” he asked. Hilda laughed.

“Girahim, it’s a guy, we all know Shadow’s gay as fuck.” she said. Shadow’s face reddened and he rubbed the top of her head, messing up her hair. “Hey!”

“Hilda, language! And I’m not gay, I’m pan, there’s a difference!”

Girahim shrugged. “Boyfriend, then. Who is it? If it’s an older guy I’m going to be jealous that you got someone older than you!”

“Ew, Girahim. No. I would like someone my age, thank you, which he is.”

“So who is it?”

“I’m not telling you, you’ll just blab it out to everyone.”

“If it’s that Empath kid--”

“Red? No! No way! He’s not my type.”

“Then what is?”

“ _Le type qui ne vous ressemble pas._ ”

“Ouch, that hurt!”

“ _Ce qui va vous faire mal, c'est que je vous arrache les yeux et vous poignarde la gorge pour vous faire taire et que je cesse de poser des questions sur les personnes avec lesquelles je sors maintenant. Ne veux pas vous dire à nouveau._ ”

They were both interrupted by Midna, who seemed to suddenly appear. “Girls, girls, you’re both beautiful, now shut the fuck up and let me listen to my goddamn music.” she said, leaning against the wall with her earbuds in. Girahim walked off, the girl trailing behind him. Midna looked up.

“Now, I won’t pressure you to tell me, but who’s--”

“Who am I dating? NONE OF Y’ALL’S GODDAMN BUSINESS!” Sheik started laughing.

“Zelly told me!”

“Only because you talk to literally no one else.”

“Fair.”

Midna sighed and propped her elbow on Shadow’s head. She was tall. “ _Très bien alors…_ ” she sighed, playing on her phone.

Shadow sighed and turned to Zelda. “After that, who would you say is your favorite one of my siblings?”

Zelda thought for a moment. “Sheik and Midna.” she said. “Midna’s cool, and Sheik’s just adorable.”

“I can’t argue with that.”

\---

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please leave comments/kudos!
> 
> Translations:
> 
> Le type qui ne vous ressemble pas - The guy who does not look like you. (Shadow)
> 
> Ce qui va vous faire mal, c'est que je vous arrache les yeux et vous poignarde la gorge pour vous faire taire et que je cesse de poser des questions sur les personnes avec lesquelles je sors maintenant. Ne veux pas vous dire à nouveau. - What will hurt you is that I tear your eyes off and stab your throat to shut you up and stop asking questions about the people I'm going out with now. I do not want to tell you again. (Shadow)
> 
> Très bien alors... - Very well then... (Midna)
> 
> Ghirahim is annoying. I hate him.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The party happens (from like three chapters ago).
> 
> MOST of the group gets drunk.
> 
> The party is told through a group chat because I don't like to write parties since I'm an introvert.

Zelda looked in the mirror one more time, brushing out the wrinkles in her dress, before opening the door and walking to the car, where Dark was already waiting at the wheel. Shadow already waiting for her in the back. She got in and sat in the passenger seat, turning back to look at Shadow.

“So, we go pick up Red, then on the way back to Green’s, pick up Erune, Vio, and Blue, right?” she said. Shadow nodded.

“Yep.”

After a few minutes of awkward silence, Dark finally decided to attempt to make small talk. “So, Shadow,” he said. “I heard from Girahim that you’ve got a boyfriend. Who is it?”

Shadow jumped so high that if he wasn’t wearing a seat belt, then he would have crashed through the roof. “GIRAHIM can’t keep his FUCKING mouth shut.” he said. Dark and Zelda laughed.

“He wants to keep it a secret until the party.” she said, grinning. “But if you can actually keep a secret then I can tell you.”

“ZELDA NOHANSEN!” Shadow shrieked. Zelda continued laughing.

“I would like to know.”

“DARK!”

“Okay, but don’t tell anyone. Shadow’s dating--”

“YOU GUYS!!”

“--Vio.”

“You’re both dead to me.” Dark stared at Zelda in shock while Shadow covered his red face with his hands.

“Wait, you’re dating Vio? As in that quiet nerd you’re always hanging out with? Didn’t think he was your type. When did you realize you had feelings for him?”

“He’s very much my type, and… uh, after he saved my life that one time.”

“THAT LONG? Holy shit.”

They all sat in silence for a few more minutes, until Dark finally pulled up to a small apartment complex. “Wait, this is where Red lives? How did he get into the school?” Zelda asked.

Shadow walked out of the car. “He’s got an art scholarship, he’s, like, the best artist I’ve seen in awhile.” he said, leading Zelda up to the top floor. “Just so you know, he’s got three cats. All of them are four years old. All of them are adorable.”

Finally, they got to an apartment that had a red wind chime, the name on the door reading ‘SAGE’ in bright red letters. “This is his room. Red and Auburn Sage. Auburn is his mom, she’s almost never home because she’s so busy, but when she is she’s a great mom.” Shadow explained, knocking on the door.

After a few seconds Red opened it, wearing a red T-shirt with the bottom half cut off, a black tank top under it and red jeans, black sneakers on his feet and a red necklace around his neck with a black choker. “Hey, guys!” he said, running out and quickly closing the door behind him. He looked Shadow and Zelda up and down. “You look nice!”

Shadow was wearing a black leather jacket over a dark purple T-Shirt, black jeans, and black sneakers. His hair was somewhat brushed and a darker shade of purple to match his shirt. And he was wearing eyeliner. (he usually did) Zelda was wearing a dusty pink dress that came down to her knees, black leggings, and a blue jacket over it, blue flats on her feet.

“You do too, Red.” Zelda said. The three walked downstairs. “So, when can I ever see your apartment?”

“You just did!”

“I mean the inside of it. I’d love to meet your cats and such.”

“Um, well…” Red scratched the back of his head, his face a bit… well, red. “I don’t really want people to come over to my house…” he said.

“Why?”

“It’s kind of a mess…”

Shadow, sensing the tense atmosphere, wisely changed the subject. “So, Green told me that Link’s gonna have alcohol. Are you gonna have some, Red?” he asked. Zelda’s eyes widened. They were fourteen! Well, Blue was fifteen, but they were still young!

Red giggled. “Maybe, I guess.”

Zelda stared at him. “But we’re underage!”

“And it’ll be fine as long as Dark doesn’t drink anything, which he doesn’t.” Shadow replied. “If you’re worrying about us doing something stupid and embarassing ourselves or whatever, don’t worry. There’s no school tomorrow, either.”

“Yeah, the only time either of us have done something stupid is when Shadow was dared to chug an entire cup of alcohol and then he tried to jump off the roof. Vio literally carried him downstairs.” Red laughed.

“Say what now?”

“I tried to jump off the roof, apparently. Blue caught it on camera.”

“Yeah. Shadow gets real reckless when drunk. I just get really sleepy and giggly. Blue tells the world’s worst jokes and thinks they’re funny. Green is the type when you don’t know if he's drunk until he literally passes out on the floor. Erune falls asleep really easily.”

Zelda blinked. “Okay, what about Vio?”

“Vio doesn’t like feeling not in control. He doesn’t drink.”

“Ah.”

Dark honked the horn outside and they jumped. “Better get back to the car.” Shadow said. “Dark’s waiting.”

After they picked up Erune, wearing a teal dress with short sleeves and white low heels, Vio, who wore small purple hoop earrings, a purple hoodie and white skinny jeans, his hair (usually in a ponytail) flowing freely a few inches past his shoulders, and Blue, who wore a hoodie with the sleeves cut off and a white button-up shirt with blue jeans, they all pulled up to Green’s house. Zelda jumped out and waited for the others before walking up to the door and knocked on it.

Green opened it, wearing a brown T-shirt and shorts with a green collared shirt unbuttoned over it, blue hoop earrings like Vio’s in his ears. “Hey, guys!” he said, almost yelling it over the music. “You all have your phones so we can contact each other without shouting, right?” they all held up their phones and he grinned. “Great! Come on in!”

Zelda walked in and stared at the sight. The whole place was covered in different-colored ribbons, speakers blasting music. There was a wall of ribbons covering the door to the upstairs rooms, which was good. The entire downstairs was full of people, most of them eighteen and older. There was one room with the door closed and locked. Green walked up to it and knocked on it using a specific pattern.

A little girl peeked out and Green crouched down. “Hey, Aryll. Tetra and Wind are in there, too, right?” he asked. The little girl, Aryll, nodded. Green stood up and waved Zelda over, then walked into the room.

Zelda followed him and saw three children that looked like Green. One was the little girl, wearing a blue dress with flowers and little blond pigtails. The other two looked older, about Hilda and Ravio’s age. One had a little blond ponytail, strands that didn’t quite make it covering her forhead. She wore a blue jacket over a lighter blue shirt with white sweatpants. The boy wore a blue shirt with a scorpion on it and brown shorts, his fluffy blond hair coming down to his shoulders.

Green turned to Zelda. “Zelda, this is the room where you guys can go if the party’s too much and just hang out with my little siblings. Aryll, Tetra, and Wind.” he said, pointing to each of the children in turn. He then knocked on the wall with the same pattern, and turned back to Zelda. “Do you have that? It’s rather simple.” Zelda nodded.

“Yeah, thanks Green.” she said. Green nodded at the door and opened it.

“Want to join the party?” Zelda nodded.

**\--Princessoftime opened chat GROUP CHAT--  
\--Greenbean joined the chat--  
\--Redlove joined the chat--  
\--Violetbirdofprey joined the chat--  
\--Shadowsinthenight joined the chat--  
\--Oceansofblue joined the chat--  
\--Dollofdarkness joined the chat--**

**Princessoftime: Hey guys.**

**Shadowsinthenight: woop okay--**

**Shadowsinthenight: I FOUND THE KITCHEN**

**Oceansofblue: WOOP**

**Redlove: WOOP**

**Greenbean: WOOP**

**Dollofdarkness: WOOP**

**Violetbirdofprey: Are you seriously going to drink again?**

**Princessoftime: Seriously?**

**Dollofdarkness: It’s the chance to forget everything and do stupid shit and not be embarrassed! Why would we pass up that chance?**

**Violetbirdofprey: To stay… sane?**

**Violetbirdofprey: Remember what happened last time?**

**Shadowsinthenight: THAT WAS ONE TIME!**

**Violetbirdofprey: You were going to jump off the roof while shouting “PARKOUR.”**

**Shadowsinthenight: I was just KIDDING!**

**Violetbirdofprey: Tell that to your drunk self.**

**Princessoftime: Wait when did this happen?**

**Oceansofblue: Seven months ago. I have the video still.**

**Oceansofblue: [VIDEO]**

**Princessoftime: Holy shit this is amazing.**

**Princessoftime: I didn’t know you meant Vio literally picked drunk Shadow up and basically tossed him onto the couch downstairs and sat next to him because he didn’t want drunk Shadow to die.**

**Violetbirdofprey: Yeah pretty much.**

**Shadowsinthenight: I will now drink an entire cup of alcohol again.**

**Shadowsinthenight: I would like to reenact that.**

**Violetbirdofprey: WHERE ARE YOU RIGHT NOW?**

**Shadowsinthenight: Sheesh, I was kidding!**

**Greenbean: He’s in the kitchen kind of lying on the windowsill on his phone.**

**Greenbean: And is now floating.**

**Shadowsinthenight: It’s fun!**

**Redlove: Show-off.**

**Greenbean: RED PUT DOWN THE ALCOHOL NO DRINKING UNTIL TEN PM.**

**Relove: Yes, mom.**

**Princessoftime: What?**

**Shadowsinthenight: Green’s like our mom.**

**Shadowsinthenight: So is Vio.**

**Shaowsinthenight: They’re both our parents and it’s annoying.**

**Violetbirdofprey: If you call me your mom I will disown you as friends.**

**Oceansofblue: Okay mom.**

**Violetbirdofprey: DISOWNED!**

**Oceansofblue: NOOOOOOOOOO**

**\--**

**10:15 PM**

**Oceansofblue: HOLY SHIT**

**Oceansofblue: WHAT THE FUCK YOU GUYS**

**Greenbean: What what happened?**

**Princessoftime: ;)**

**Greenbean: What is it?  
Princessoftime: ;)**

**Oceansofblue: WHAT THE FUCK SHADOW**

**Shadowsinthenight: ;)**

**Redlove: What happened?**

**Shadowsinthenight: ;)**

**Princessoftime: ;)**

**Greenbean: I’m still very confused.**

**Violetbirdofprey: Some girl that was obviously drunk was flirting with Shadow for like ten minutes and asked if he was single.**

**Greenbean: Which he… is?**

**Violetbirdofprey: No he’s not.**

**Violetbirdofprey: Shadow got annoyed and grabbed me by the shirt, then kissed me on the lips, and then he turned back to the girl and, with a perfectly straight face, said ‘no.’ and that he was already taken.**

**Redlove: WHAT THE FUCK**

**Greenbean: I’m currently in the kitchen and Red’s drinking. I don’t know if you heard over the music but he just screamed ‘WHAT THE FUCK’ aloud and I am now temporarily deaf.**

**Oceansofblue: WHEN DID THIS HAPPEN? WHEN DID YOU TWO BECOME A THING?**

**Violetbirdofprey: At the Ribbon Day school event, Shadow gave me a red ribbon and I happened to also have one for him.**

**Violetbirdofprey: So, approximately nine hours ago.**

**Oceansofblue: I onle noticed this happen from the other side of the room because the party momentarily stopped and Shadow’s older siblings yelled ‘YES’ at the top of their lungs.**

**Greenbean: Please excuse me I need to make Red stop drinking right now he’s on a roll.**

**\---**

**11:30 PM**

**Greenbean: I am now currently sitting on the couch with Red fast asleep with his head in my lap and I’m scared to move because I don’t want to wake him up.**

**Greenbean: Where’s everyone else?**

**Shadowsofthenight: Gren vio’s trying to convince me not to jump off a third story winddoe please tell him i can fly itll be fine helpp**

**Princessoftime: aaaand there’s two gone already.**

**Greenbean: three.**

**Princessoftime: Ah, yes.**

**Princessoftime: Where’s Blue?**

**Oceansofblue: Not drunk yet and playing with Green’s siblings. I needed a break.**

**Shadowsofthenight: brean haha that’s funny someone justt broke a vase in here**

**Greenbean: WHAT?**

**Violetbirdofprey: He’s lying it’s fine.**

**Violetbirdofprey: Shadow needs to have no phone priveleges when he’s drunk.**

**Shadowsofthenight: asdflaiuryglfdsb**

**Oceansofblue: ?**

**Violetbirdofprey: I took Shadow’s phone. He’s trying to get it back by quite literally jumping on me.**

**Violetbirdofprey: He keeps missing.**

**Princessoftime: I found you guys!**

**Princessoftime: [VIDEO]**

**Oceansofblue: Pfft that’s amazing.**

**Oceansofblue: Drunk Shadow needs an award for the funniest attempt at getting his phone back from his boyfriend.**

**Princessoftime: Shadow did not miss and now he is wrestling with Vio to get his phone back.**

**Princessoftime: [VIDEO]**

**Shadowsofthenight: success1!**

**Violetbirdofprey: He got his phone back.**

**Violetbirdofprey: Shadow, please give me the phone. You’re going to break it in this state.**

**Shadowsofthenight: FUCK YOU!1!**

**Shadowsofthenight: :D!!!**

**Shadowsofthenight: ii can get anottherone my dad’s rich remmember?**

**Violetbirdofprey: *sigh***

**Violetbirdofprey: Someone please deal with Shadow, he’s acting like a child.**

**Shadowsofthenight: I REGRET NOTHNING!**

**Violetbirdofprey: I will screenshot this entire conversation and send it to you when you’re sober.**

**Oceansofblue: I’m not coming out of this room!**

**Princessoftime: I’ll help I guess.**

**12:00 PM**

**\--Heroshadeofdark joined the chat--**

**Heroshadeofdark: Time to go, guys.**

**Heroshadeofdark: I drank only water, so I’m good.**

**Heroshadeofdark: Unlike Shadow, Green, and Red, I can see.**

**Shadowsofthenight: iiidont want to go home!!**

**Shadowsofthenight: i wanttto stay here with Vio1!!**

**Violetbirdofprey: I’m ready to leave, but I do not trust Shadow to do anything himself.**

**Oceansofblue: imm good to go too**

**Oceansofblue: i had at few drinks**

**Heroshadeofdark: Vio, help your boyfriend to the car. I’ll get Blue. Green can help too.**

**Heroshadeofdark: Where’s Erune?**

**Princessoftime: Oh yeah, she’s asleep in the kitchen.**

**Princessoftime: I’ll get her.**

**Greenbean: Whatever you do, don’t wake her up.**

**Greenbean: I’ll get Red.**

**\--Heroshadeofdark left the chat--**

They all piled into the car, Zelda in the passenger seat, a passed-out Erune and Red next to Blue. In the way back of the car, Shadow was leaning against Vio’s shoulder, talking about things that happened at the party and laughing, while Vio was running his hand through the boy’s hair and staring out the window.

Dark first dropped Vio and Blue off, though Vio was a little reluctant to leave Shadow. He helped Blue get out of the car into the house, and Dark drove off. Then he got to Red’s apartment, picking up the boy and bringing him into his room. Dark then did the same to Erune, and then dropped off Zelda at her house.

Zelda opened the door and turned to wave at Dark. Shadow was asleep in the back. She couldn’t believe that most of her friends got drunk at fourteen years old.

\---

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please leave comments/kudos!
> 
> I had SO MUCH FUN writing drunk Shadow. He's hilarious.


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> this is just a really short chapter sorry about that.
> 
> Free online hugs for anyone who gets the reference.

\--This chapter will be told only in text chats. This is the day after the party. Sorry that it’s real short.--

CONVERSATION WITH VIO AND SHADOW:

**Shadow: uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuugh**

**Shadow: My head hurts**

**Shadow: I am never drinking alcohol again**

**Vio: That’s what you said last time.**

**Shadow: What happened?**

**Shadow: Did I do anything stupid?**

**Vio: Uh just a second**

**Vio: [PICTURE] [PICTURE] [PICTURE] [PICTURE] [PICTURE] [PICTURE]**

**Vio: That was the chat.**

**Vio: Here are the things Blue Zelda sent to the chat: [VIDEO] [VIDEO] [VIDEO]**

**Vio: You were both hilarious and irritating.**

**Shadow: …**

**Shadow: I tackled you.**

**Shadow: and then yelled “Fuck you” with a smiley face in the group chat.**

**Shadow: Holy shit.**

**Shadow: I also don’t rememer the kiss thing.**

**Shadow: But all right.**

**Shadow: I feel really proud of myself.**

**Vio: Be thankful that I literally pulled you away from the third story window by the back of your jacket.**

**Shadow: Yeah thanks I do not want to die because drunk me decided to jump out of a window.**

CONVERSATION WITH ZELDA AND SHADOW:

**Shadow: So Vio just sent me the screenshots of the chat from last night. And those videos.**

**Shadow: I was hilarious but I’m also just wondering why Vio didn’t like, break up with me even though we’d been dating for less than twenty four hours.**

**Zelda: You were hilarious.**

**Zelda: And I’m just thinking that Vio wouldn’t want to break up with you because it’s mostly the alcohol talking.**

**Shadow: At least the ‘my dad’s rich I can get another phone’ was accurate.**

**Shadow: The vase thing is great.**

**Shadow: How did I misspell ‘break’ as ‘brean’?**

**Shadow: How do you even pronounce that?**

**Shadow: ‘brain’ and ‘bean’ mixed together?**

**Zelda: I don’t know.**

**Zelda: I never asked this but why were your eyes glowing bright yellow while you were tackling Vio to get your phone?**

**Shadow: That’s the color they turn when I get drunk, apparently.**

**Zelda: One thing that was for some reason not mentioned in the chat is that Green asked Link “Is this whisky or perfume,” and Link drank the WHOLE thing, yelled “IT’S PERFUME,” and it was.**

**Shadow: Oh my gosh.**

**Shadow: Green has security cams in his house.**

**Shadow: We should go over and watch it!!**

**Zelda: Yeah ok I’ll ask him.**

CONVERSATION WITH GREEN AND ZELDA:

**Zelda: Hey Green.**

**Zelda: Green**

**Zelda: You up?**

**Green: yeah.**

**Zelda: Shadow wants everyone to come over to your house and watch the security footage from the party.**

**Green: Yeah that sounds great!**

**Green: I’ll tell the others!!**

**Zelda: Great!**

\---


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Angst somehow creeps its way into this fic.
> 
> I am so so sorry.
> 
> We find out what happened to Vio's family.

\--TIME SKIP AGAIN: one week because if I write EVERY experience they have, this’ll become a fucking nightmare.--  
Word spread fast at Hyrule Castle.

By the end of next week, the entire school knew about Vio and Shadow, and neither of them seemed to mind. In fact, they were more affectionate then they were as just friends, which Red and Erune found adorable and Blue found annoying, which he expressed a lot by voicing his concerns.

A lot.

“Can you please not shove your relationship in my face all the time?” Blue grumbled. Shadow looked at him, confused.

“How? We’re acting like a couple, which we are, how is that shoving our relationship in your face?” he asked.

“It’s just irritating.”

“Blue, you might be a little jealous.” Vio said without looking at him.

“Shut up.”

“That I got a boyfriend before you did, since you’re always trying to compete with me.”

“Shut your fucking mouth, smartass!”

“I’m just saying that you wish you could be dating someone as well.”

“Vio, if you don’t shut up right now you’ll wish you were never born.”

“Ow!” Green looked down at the glass shattered on the ground. “Shit.” Vio stared at the broken glass and the bleeding cut on Green’s hand.

“I already wish that enough, Blue, for if I wasn’t my mother, father, and sisters wouldn’t be dead.”

Zelda stared at him. Vio was staring at the ground, his fists clenched and his eyes now glassy. Shadow looked at the two, eyes wide. Blue visibly winced.

“Vio, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean--”

“I need to go.” in one swift movement, Vio grabbed his bags, pulled his hand away from Shadow’s, and ran out of the classroom, the door swinging behind him. Shadow got up to follow him, but Green grabbed his wrist.

“Shadow, I think he wants to be alone right now.” he said. “We shouldn’t--”

“Green, he needs help!” Shadow argued back. “I need to calm him down!”

“Shadow--”

Zelda turned to Blue. “What did he mean by his father dying? I met Rauru before, he’s alive and well.” Blue looked down.

“Rauru’s actually his uncle from here, not his hometown. We call him his dad because he adopted him after whatever happened to his family. No one knows about his past, not even Rauru. Vio just arrived three years ago with Rauru when he was eleven, and we helped him, and then a year and a half later he was ready to go to school.”

Zelda turned back to where Green and Shadow were arguing and saw that Shadow was running towards the door. Red followed him out, and Zelda soon followed Red.

\---

They finally found Vio outside the school sitting against the wall at the front of the building and staring at the ground, clutching his head in his hands.

Zelda thought this whole thing was such a strange reaction to a simple insult in a small fight, but then again, people could be triggered in very strage ways. She’d once seen a boy being asked what color backpack he would like for school, and the boy broke down sobbing ouside of the store.

Shadow ran over and sat down next to Vio, muttering things in a low voice that Zelda couldn’t hear. Red walked over too, but soon winced and closed his eyes. Whatever was going on with Vio was really messing up Red’s Empath powers.

“What happened?” Zelda asked him. Red looked at her, his back to Vio.

“Panic attack combined with a flashback and already pent-up emotions caused the figurative boiler to explode.” Red repled.

“Oh… poor Vio.”

Zelda walked up to Vio and knelt down in front of him. She put a hand on his shoulder. “Vio-”

Everything around her faded to black, and suddenly she was somewhere else.

_Glass._  
Breaking glass.  
The window’s gone.  
It’s shattered, I stepped in it.  
There’s a cut on my foot.  
My arm is bleeding, there’s a hole in it.  
I feel numb.  
Where’s mom? She can help, right?  
Why are the police here? What happened? Is my mom okay? Where’s dad?  
And Emily? And Sarah? Where did they go?  
Why are there gunshots?  
Men with guns are surrounding me and pointing at other men with guns.  
Why is there so much happening? I just want to see my mom.  
Where are they? Where’d they go?  
Why is it red?  
Why is there  
So  
Much  
Red?  
Why?  
Where’s mom?  
Where’s the ambulance? They should be here by now.  
There it is!  
The bad men with guns are gone.  
But so are the police.  
They’re on the floor.  
They’re not moving.What happened?  
Everything is red.  
I can’t move.  
I don’t want to see more.  
Where’s my family?  
Where’d they go?  
Why am I all alone?  
Why am I in a hospital bed?  
The doctors are saying something.  
What are they saying?  
Is it about me?  
Is it about my family?  
What happened to them?  
Are they okay? 

\---

Zelda heard the voices of Shadow and Red, but just barely. She was trapped in the flashback, of younger, confused Vio, wondering where his family had gone.

\---

_The doctors are telling me that men with guns broke into my house through my bedroom window and shot me in the arm. I don’t remember that._  
What about my family? Are they okay?  
They said they didn’t make it, but that can’t be true.  
It can’t.  
I’m gonna go home and see my mom reading to my little sisters on the couch in front of the fireplace. My dad’s gonna be in the kitchen working on his computer. It’ll all be fine.  
Fine.  
Right?  
It was my fault.  
All my fault.  
The men had asked me where my parents were- I thought they would help us.  
They said they would relieve my family of their pain.  
I thought-  
I thought that meant it was okay…  
It was my fault.  
If I hadn’t told them, I wouldn’t be in the hospital with a gunshot wound in my shoulder and a dead family.  
If I hadn’t told them, they would still be alive.  
It was my fault.  
I deserve to die here. 

\---

Zelda’s eyes flew open and she found that she was lying on the ground, her head in Red’s lap. He smiled down at her. “Hey, Zelda.” he said. “You good?”

Zelda shook her head. “How long was I out?”

“A few minutes.”

“I- I saw- Vio’s family… I know what happened to them… he thinks it was his fault.” she said. She sat all the way up and looked around. She saw Shadow sitting down, a sleeping Vio in his lap. It would be sweet, in another circumstance. “How’s Vio?”

“He passed out shortly after you did. I called the counselor’s office so he might help, he’s on his way.” Shadow replied, softly stroking Vio’s hair with his hand. “I hope he’ll be okay.”

Red tapped Zelda’s shoulder. “Zelda, no one else would be able to see someone else’s memories except for Empaths, but you’re not related to me, so that must mean…” he eyes widened. “You’re a Seer!”

Zelda blinked. “A… what now?”

“It means that you can see someone else’s past by touching them.”

The two were interrupted by the counselor running towards them with the principal right behind him. “Ah, Mr. Lorule, Mr. Sage, Ms. Nohansen! There you are!” the principal said, her name tag reading MS. NAYRU.

“Hey, Ms. Nayru. Vio fell asleep a few minutes ago and I don’t think he should wake up soon.” Shadow said.

\---

After a (long) talk with Ms. Nayru, the counselor (Mr. Deku), Blue’s parents, and Rauru, they were all told to go home and rest/take care of Vio, who was sedated for the time being. Such a bad attack, plus his insomnia, meant he needs as much sleep as he can get.

All four of them went to Vio’s house, since they were all very worried. In the group chat they got a lot of texts from Green, Erune, and Blue, but mostly the latter. Blue was very worried about Vio and very guilty that he caused this to happen. One text from him caught Zelda’s attention.

**Oceansofblue: I shouldn’t have said that. Based on his past, and his phonophobia, that stupid insult would have caused this. I should have seen that. I’m so stupid.**

Vio has a phobia that referred to the fear of loud noises. Specifically any shattering noise such as breaking glass. Zelda should keep that in mind for later on. Just in case. She didn’t want to cause another panic attack.

\---

Later, she got a text from Shadow that made her really happy, along with responses that made her wonder how the ‘cool kids’ at school were this silly:

**Shadowsofthenight: So hey guys, Vio’s awake and… all right? I guess? He’s still going to school tomorrow because with his weird logic he should still go to school after a major panic attack and flashback--**

**Shadowsofthenight: I tried to stop him and him, being Vio, will not listen.**

**Redlove: He’s very determined to go back like nothing happened.**

**Redlove: Don’t treat him different, he’ll probably be mad if you do.**

**Greenbean: Got it.**

**Violetbirdofprey: I am included in this group chat you know.**

**Shadowsofthenight: ASDFGHKJSDFSA**

**Shadowsofthenight: WHOOPS**

**Dollofdarkness: This would be funny in another circumstance.**

**Oceansofblue: That is not this.**

**Violetbirdofprey: I am going to school, Shadow.**

**Shadowsofthenight: ASDFHGJJLKKJHSFAHGJKJJKHJGFHDSFAD**

**Redlove: He’s shrieking a lot.**

**Redlove: A lot.**

**Redlove: I am deaf now.**

**Princessoftime: Shadow please stop.**

**Dollofdarkness: You have deafened Red.**

**Violetbirdofprey: I can hear him from upstairs and so help me I will throw my pillow at his face.**

**Violetbirdofprey: I just threw my pillow at his face.**

**Redlove: Thank you!**

**Shadowsofthenight: WHY ARE YOU GUYS SO MEAN ASFDJKJHDS**

\---

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please leave comments/kudos!
> 
> Yes, they all literally ditched class to help Vio who also ditched class (I also did this before but not with a panic attack it was something else)
> 
> That 'boy with a backpack' thing is a reference to an amazing Sanders Sides fic I've been reading called 'To Build a Home,' I recommend it to any Sanders Sides fan here.
> 
> Also, Vio trying to go to school the next day even though he's probably not mentally okay yet is actually what has happened to me before.
> 
> Vio needs some common sense knocked into him. With a pillow.

**Author's Note:**

> Translations:  
> Ma petite violette, elle est toujours en colère contre moi… -- My little violet, she's still mad at me... (Shadow)
> 
> I am not fluent in French so this MIGHT be wrong. If it is, please tell me (nicely.)
> 
> Please leave comments/kudos!


End file.
